


Little Echo Ficlets

by angsty_nerd



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, Liz has lots of feelings about Max, Liz is good at compartmentalizing those feelings until she’s not., Liz is good at the science, Post-2x13, angsty angst, fluffy fluff, post-2x07, vaguely references 2x02 stuffs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:02:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23308813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angsty_nerd/pseuds/angsty_nerd
Summary: 1 - Dreams2 - 2x07 Coda3 - 2x13 Coda (Liz POV)
Relationships: Max Evans/Liz Ortecho
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26





	1. Dreams

_I know I've felt like this before_

_But now I'm feeling it even more_

_Because it came from you_

_Then I open up and see_

_The person falling here is me_

_A different way to be_

_Now I tell you openly_

_You have my heart so don't hurt me_

_You're what I couldn't find_

_Totally amazing mind_

_So understanding and so kind_

_You're everything to me_

_Oh, my life_

_Is changing every day_

_In every possible way_

_And oh, my dreams_

_It's never quite as it seems_

_'Cause you're a dream to me_

_Dream to me_

~*~*~*~*~*~

There was a picture in Liz Ortecho's wallet. 

She carried it everywhere. 

It was in the glove box of her car, on the nightstand beside her when she slept. It was in her apron pocket while she worked shifts at the Crashdown, and stuffed in a corner while she worked in her secret laboratory.

Liz tried not to look at the picture. She didn't need to. She felt the weight of it, heavy on her shoulders as she walked through the grey streets of her life. It anchored her to Roswell, even though logic told her to take her sister and run. To protect Rosa.

It was her cage, trapping her in Roswell with her pain. With her memories.

It was the ultrasound photograph of the empty void where Max's heart belonged.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz had never failed at the science.

Whenever she had been given free reign to practice her craft, she always accomplished what she set out to achieve.

She persisted. She never once gave up.

Liz had used serums, lasers, and chemicals to manipulate stem cell differentiation. She studied countless lab rats in her career, fixing hearts and lungs, brain tissue and bone marrow. Time and time again, she proved that cellular regeneration was possible, that she could heal the broken things caused by illness and injury. 

She endlessly argued that she could change the world, if given the chance. She could move beyond lab rats. She could do more to help society.

They always shut her down.

It's too risky, they said.

We can't afford the liability, they said.

_Not in this political climate._

That last one frustrated her the most. Just because the government was looking backwards didn't mean that science had to degrade itself in their image.

Science deserved better. Science was about progress 

~*~*~*~*~*~

At night she saw his face in her dreams. 

His eyes spoke volumes as he looked at her. They wrote soliloquies to her soul.

He wanted to be a writer, once. He always had a way with words. 

Somehow he consistently managed to say the one thing to burn down the barriers that she built between them.

Time and again, brick by brick, she had tried to build up her defenses. She told herself that she could lock him out. Each and every time, his words were the wrecking ball that ravaged through those walls. 

The thing was that he didn't even need the words, because of those eyes. His eyes said everything before his lips even moved.

His eyes could fill encyclopedias with his love for her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

She pushed her feelings aside. 

They were a distraction, and Liz Ortecho didn't have time for distractions.

She had to focus on this project clinically. She had to use logic and facts and results to push herself forward. 

She couldn't think of this as tied to her own heart. To her own happiness. 

She couldn't focus on his face. 

When she did, that sharp ache stabbed at her chest, and she found herself clawing at it for dear life, desperately trying to hold onto the joy that she had felt the last time that they were together. The day that they were planning their future together.

She couldn't focus on the past.

She couldn't think about the words she never got a chance to say. She couldn't comprehend that he had died without hearing her say them. 

She couldn't run through all the what ifs in her head. 

What if she had stayed when he asked? What if she hadn't insisted on him going to support his sister? What if she had let him come to the cemetery with her?

What if she had gone with him to meet Michael and Isobel? 

What if she had been there to stop him?

What if she had never known the joy of having a sister again?

What if she would never feel his arms around her again?

What if…

~*~*~*~*~*~

She had to focus on the science. She never failed at the science.

Max's heart would beat again.


	2. 2x07 Coda

Liz's lips were still tingling from kissing Max, as she hit the lights in the diner and made her way upstairs. 

Her back and shoulder muscles were aching from holding the stress of the day tightly, but somehow, her heart felt light. The hard days had been compounding for months. But somehow, having Max back just made handling the extra pressure that much easier. 

She knocked lightly before peering into her father's bedroom. 

" _Papi_ ," she greeted him with a smile, leaning against the doorframe. He had changed out of his suit, and was carefully hanging it back in his closet, folding the collar just so, to ensure it didn't wrinkle.

" _Mija_ , are you okay?" He asked, turning his attention onto her.

Liz reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring, holding it up so that her father could see. It caught the light, and her father gasped at the sight of it. 

"But how?"

Liz smiled. "Max."

"Max?" Arturo questioned.

"I didn't ask for details."

" _Bueno. Es un buen hombre_."

"He is," Liz agreed. She fell silent, staring at the ring in her hand, and biting her lower lip, as she marveled again in the utter joy of having Max back from the dead.

" _Papi_ ," she finally continued. "I'm so in love with him." She met her father's eyes. There was a soft love shining back at her, a smile on his face. "It's overwhelming."

"Oh _mija_ , come here." Arturo pleaded, and Liz crossed the room and hugged her father tightly. "I am happy for you. You deserve all the love in the world. _Te quiero, mi niña hermosa_."


	3. 2x13 Coda

Her anger burned inside of her...a soft blue flame full of unimaginable heat and destructive power. She didn't like the feeling. It felt out of control, violent...like if she gave into the anger it would consume everything. It would burn her entire life to the ground.

She preferred a controlled flame. In the lab, gas could be adjusted to exactly the right level necessary to boil or burn or create. It was clinical, emotionless.

She preferred it that way.

She didn't pack up her life this time. There was no need. Genoryx had rented her an L.A. condo, shiny and furnished and already waiting for her. This time, for the first time in her life, she believed she'd be back. Her father was getting his citizenship...Rosa was getting clean. Her family would be here waiting, and she would come back to them. Even if only for short visits. Holidays and birthdays and the occasional major life event.

So she packed a suitcase this time. Just a single bag. It was easy to drag down the stairs and roll into the quiet, dark cafe.

She paused, surveying the empty space. Booths and chairs...the milkshake machine and the arcade. The countertop was clean, the kitchen window in shadows. 

And the jukebox. Her favorite part of the whole diner.

She waited for the familiar sound of the door opening. He would rush in to see her, like he always did. He would apologize, tell her he was wrong. He would have a small duffle bag with a few days worth of clothes. He'd be ready to follow her anywhere, just like he had already promised her over and over again.

She waited...but he didn't come.

She lingered a bit longer. Maybe just one song before she goes. She ran her fingers over the jukebox keys. She didn't need to look for the right buttons. They hadn't ever changed. But she still hesitated. It didn't feel right. She should be celebrating, happy about her next adventure. But all she could feel was anger...dread...longing.

She tried to shove the feelings away, but then she heard the sound she had been waiting for. Hope blossomed inside of her. Just briefly. 

But then Kyle walked into the cafe instead of Max.

After Kyle left, she couldn't delay anymore. It was time to go. She walked out to the street, loaded her suitcase into her car, and locked the cafe door. 

She sat in the driver's seat, and again, she paused. Again, she waited.

In her imagination, now his Jeep would come speeding into view, up the main street behind her. Again, he would come rushing to her, renewing his promise that he would go wherever she goes. He would climb into the passenger seat, and she would put the car into drive. Her hand would find his, and they would lock their fingers between them, moving together into a new future. 

Finally, they would see the ocean together. 

The headlights never came. Down the street was just darkness reflecting back at her in the rearview mirror. 

She shook her head, pushing her disappointment away, as she threw the car into drive and pulled away from her home.

Her own mind was her nemesis. Enough had happened that she knew she shouldn't hope for a future that would clearly never come. But there was a tiny part of her that couldn't let it go. It was the part of her heart that knew that she was in love with Max. It was the piece of her that betrayed her logical mind.

As she turned west onto the highway out of town, it happened again. She could almost see the headlights in her rearview mirror, speeding to catch her before she left him. Promising that he would follow her into this new life, stand by her side wherever the science took her.

But again, it was only the naive, wistful part of her heart that still longed for him. That yearned for something that was clearly ending.

The fire burned to ashes. The embers cooled. And Liz shivered as her heart froze.

Love wasn't something she ever thought she needed. She was meant for greater things. She was gonna change the world.

With each passing mile, she laid another brick around her heart. Mile by mile, brick by brick, she slowly reconstructed the wall that Max Evans had shattered. By the time she reached the state line, the grout was drying and the wall was solid. 

This was who she was meant to be.


End file.
